“It is a severe criticism of our policy that our government has never allied itself with the very, very sizable peace movement in Israel.”

Senior members of two Palestinian groups, Hamas and Islamic Jihad, said yesterday they will refuse to consider a cease-fire until the Israeli government takes steps to stop targeted killings and dismantle Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

Meanwhile Israeli prime Minister Ariel Sharon was assailed by pro-peace legislators in the Knesset who accused him of deceiving the U.S. government and the Israeli people by claiming to support the road map even as he ordered assassinations of Palestinians.

In his first major address on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, former Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader spoke at the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee convention in Washington DC last weekend about civil liberties, the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

• Tape: Ralph Nader, speaking at the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee convention in Washington DC on June 14th.

Link:

American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee